RADCLIFFE Euro MP Gary Titley is calling for action after he was left red-faced by American computer pranksters.

Mr Titley, whose office is in Spring Lane, is pressing for tighter Internet security after his own website was taken over and made into a spoof.

Confused computer users logging on to the MEP's page found it dedicated to Garrison Titleman, Laborious MEP for Northeastern West England.

The site features a likeness of Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, under the name of its subject, to whom it attributes a raft of spoof quotes and achievements.

The appearance of the page caused maximum disruption, co-inciding with 52-year-old Mr Titley's election as leader of Labour's European group.

Members of the MEP's team initially thought that the site had been hijacked by hackers, until they discovered their own subscription to the American web address had expired.

Jokers in California, and linked with a string of pornographic websites, had taken advantage of the situation to acquire the address.

Mr Titley's page has now been transferred to a new address, although the joke site is still listed with his name and details on search engines.

The MEP is now hoping to negotiate the return of the site for the subscription cost of £15 from those who acquired it.

Mr Titley said: "This has been very inconvenient and could not have come at a worse time.

"It just so happened that it co-incided with my selection as leader, at a time when everybody was logging on to the website for information which they were unable to get hold of.

"I don't see anything funny about it. If something like that happened to a business, it would be catastrophic.

"We have already discussed the issue of computer piracy in the European Parliament and will be trying to take measures to stop this kind of thing happening."

A disclaimer on the site itself reads: "This parody website is not related to, or affiliated in any way, with any British MEP, governmental person, bureau, agency, or anyone whose actual name is Gary Titley or Garrison Titleman.

"We reserve the right to poke some fun."